Jerry Hall on her 23 years with Mick Jagger and why life is easier when you’re beautiful
The model and actress tells Simon Hattenstone about her life-changing Who Do You Think You Are? experience and why she won't be getting back together with the Rolling Stones legend anytime soon
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Is she truthful by nature? “Yes, very truthful.” So how did she cope with his lying? “I don’t know. I guess I just didn’t know from the beginning.” What hurt more, his faithlessness or the lying? “Well, the whole thing. It’s not pleasant for any woman. No one would like it.”
Was it an open relationship? She looks shocked. “No, we didn’t have an open relationship.” Didn’t she want revenge? “I did. At one point I went off and had an affair with somebody else.” Who? “Robert Sangster. So lovely. Horse breeder. Then Mick would beg me back.” She says the affair made her feel good; empowered. How long did it last? “A couple of weeks.” Was that her only affair? “Yeah. The only big time. I thought Mick would eventually change, but he didn’t.”
Is it true she called him a “sexual predator”? “Mmm, well I mean call it what you want. I mean he’s Mick Jagger and millions of girls throw themselves at him, and he’s in the position where he says yes.”
Does he regret what he did? “Yes, I think so. I think he really loved me. And we love each other now. We actually have a really nice relationship now. All that stuff we managed to put in the past, which is pretty amazing. We don’t even bicker or fight any more. Nothing. We agree on everything about the kids.”
Many people think there’s an inevitability about Hall and Jagger getting back together, but she’s not convinced. “I don’t think so… I don’t think so because I don’t think he would ever change. We’re just friends now. I’m happy the way things are.”
The most horrific aspect of their separation was when the reputedly parsimonious Jagger claimed their wedding ceremony in Bali in 1990 hadn’t been legal, and the court annulled the marriage. She gives me a look that suggests this is hardly her favourite topic. “It was a lawyers’ thing to make sure.
I didn’t… you know… I don’t think it was anything to do with Mick,” she says unconvincingly. It must have been upsetting, I say. “We were married, we had a ceremony, we did the whole thing,” she reiterates. “I think I could have fought that but I just decided, well it’s over. I’m a pacifist. I don’t like to get dragged down into nasty squabbles.”
The end of their relationship heralded a new stage in Hall’s life. She established herself as an actor [below on Broadway], broke a Guinness record in 2004 by appearing in six West End musicals in one night, and appeared stronger, more independent and fun-loving than ever.
Did the split from Jagger revitalise her? “Yes, I think so because I felt I was making a new life. It’s not easy making a new life. People don’t like you to do it. They like you to be stuck… especially the press; they like you to be who they think you are.”
She says she has enjoyed remaking her life. “I’ve surprised myself with how I can manage. I’ve learnt a lot of DIY, and I’ve become a pretty good gardener.”
Hall says she has no fear of turning 60, and wishes more women embraced their mature years. “So many women are being weak about ageing. I find it annoying. It’s ridiculous to imagine you can stay young for ever and live for ever. It’s taking away from young people. There’s a beauty and a respect in age. Magazines and media are disrespectful of age.
I say it’s lovely looking at a famous women her age who has not resorted to tucks or lifts. “Thank you, I haven’t done a single thing to my face. Thank you. I do have line. I laugh a lot.” Would she ever say there are too many lines, I;’m getting rid? “Never in a million years. You know some women take fat from their bottom and put it in their upper lip?
She pauses. “Then you’re kissing their ass!”
Is her aversion to plastic surgery political? “Yes it is. I think this ‘me society’ is very greedy! There’s a group in Japan called the Drop Down Dead Group and they think their generation has taken too much from young people, and they’ve decided if they had an illness that would be expensive to treat, they would not pursue that treatment. I think that’s interesting.”
So what’s her recipe for looking good? “I do exercise, I do yoga, I put on face cream.” Meanwhile, she’s puffing away on another fag. She laughs. “I smoke, I drink, I have fun. Laughing a lot is really good for you, embracing your children’s future and embracing your grandchildren, and not having regrets and not being bitter and not being angry.”
Last year it was reported that Hall had a new boyfriend, scientist Armand Leroi. Is she still seeing him? “No, we called it quits, but I had a very nice year.” So she’s happily single? “Yeah. I’m available for dates.” What does she look for in a man? She smiles into the distance. “A bit of pioneer spirit,” she says.
Who Do You Think You Are is on Thursday 3rd September at 9pm
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